It is known that physical fitness is of prime importance to many people. Historically, people have been able to maintain an acceptable level of fitness simply due to their everyday lives. As lifestyles have become progressively more sedentary, people have been forced to seek exercise in other ways.
A portion of society keeps in shape by participating in group exercise events such as tennis, hockey or basketball games. Such games are forms of "fun exercise" in that participants often take part in such events because they simply enjoy the games or the competition and not solely for the purpose of fitness. However, it is often difficult to coordinate the people and facilities required for many recreational and team sports. Individual sports such as bicycling, running and swimming are a viable alternative in that they allow for flexible schedules. The disadvantages to these sports is that they are location and weather dependent.
A large segment of society finds it easier and more convenient to go to health clubs or to use home exercise equipment to exercise. Health clubs have extended hours and a wide range of fitness equipment that allows workout schedules to be flexible and workouts to be quick. Unfortunately, current exercise equipment makes working out a chore that is tolerated due to the importance of cardiovascular (aerobic) fitness.
Exercise equipment generally falls into two categories: strength and aerobic. Strength equipment include traditional free weights as well as machines on which the weight is not directly attached to the lifting bars. The user lifts the weights in different ways to strengthen various muscle groups. Aerobic machines improve the users cardiovascular system and tone muscles rather than building muscles and strength. Aerobic equipment includes exercise cycles, treadmills and stair climbers. Typically, the required speed or resistance can be varied during a workout. A control panel equipped with a set of light emitting diodes (LED's) may be provided to depict the routine as a histogram. An average workout lasts approximately 20 minutes. Biomechanical feedback such as calories burned may also be displayed on the control panel.
The most conventional ways to exercise often are not necessarily the most fun. Thus, a need exists for fun exercise equipment which makes workouts more enjoyable and entices more people to exercise.